Analyzing Character eBook

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVE TYPE

The active type of man is, of course, easily recognized.
He has broad, square shoulders, and is well muscled.
He is either of the wiry, elastic, exceedingly energetic
type, with muscles like steel springs and sinews like
steel wire—­very agile, very skillful, very
quick, and somewhat jerky in his movements—­or
he is tall, raw-boned, strong, enduring, graceful,
easy in his movements rather than quick, and yet with
considerable manual skill. Or he may be of the
short, stocky type, with broad shoulders, short neck,
short arms, short legs, with big, round muscles and
an immense capacity for endurance. The railroads
of the early days, in this country, were built by
Irishmen. They were either the large, raw-boned
type or the quick, agile, wiry type. The railroads,
subways, and other construction work of to-day are
built mostly by Italians, Hungarians, Greeks, and
others from the south of Europe. These men are
of short, stocky, sturdy, and enduring build.
As a general rule, they are far better fitted for this
class of work than the tall or medium-sized, large-boned
or wiry type. As an evidence of this, take notice
of the fact that the Irishmen who built the railroads
in the sixties own and manage them to-day.

These active men usually have square faces. That
is to say, there is a good development of the outer
corners of the lower jaw, which gives to the face
a square appearance. Oftentimes their cheek bones
are both high and wide. As a general rule, they
have large aquiline or Roman noses. When they
are of the enduring type and capable of long-sustained
muscular activity, they have prominent chins.
Their hands are square. Their feet are large.
If they have mechanical and constructive ability, as
most of them have, their foreheads are comparatively
high and wide just above the temple. Professional
baseball players, professional dancers, middle-weight
and light-weight prize-fighters, most aviators, automobile
racers, and athletes belong to the wiry, springy,
medium-sized type of this particular class of men.
U.S. Grant, Robert E. Peary, Henry M. Stanley,
Ty Cobb and Ralph DePalma belong to this type.
Abraham Lincoln, W.E. Gladstone, Joseph G. Cannon,
William G. McAdoo, Woodrow Wilson, and other men of
this build belong to the raw-boned type. Napoleon
Bonaparte, with his tremendous activities on only
four hours’ sleep a day, is a good example of
the short, stocky type. While men of these types
may make brilliant successes in purely mental vocations,
as the result of the development of their intellects,
and may keep themselves in a fair degree of health
and strength by games, exercise, mountain climbing,
farming, or some such avocation, they are, nevertheless,
never quite so well satisfied as when they have something
to do which not only gives them opportunity for the
use of their intellects, but also involves a certain
degree of physical activity as a part of their regular
work.